In parking lots of the open-lot type, such as those adjacent sports arenas, the management of vehicle parking for an event poses special problems. Typically, the parking lot must accommodate a very large number of cars which will arrive for parking over a time interval prior to the event with a more or less steady traffic flow. However, when the event ends, most of the vehicles are ready to exit at the same time and the exit traffic pattern must accommodate a much higher traffic density to avoid a time consuming traffic jam. It is necessary to provide a controlled flow of incoming traffic on a car-to-car basis for collection of parking fees but, of course, such traffic flow control is not needed for emptying the parking lot.
It is common practice in such parking lots to avoid the use of permanent structures for traffic control or for other purposes which would impede the out flow of traffic from the parking lot. However, traffic lanes must be established for the in-flow of traffic and it is known, for this purpose, to use portable temporary traffic lane markers to define entrance lanes to the lot. Typically, for a large lot, several single-car traffic lanes are established by portable temporary traffic markers and a parking attendant is stationed at an entry point adjacent each lane for the collection of the parking fee.
Because of the relatively large number of parking attendants required for a single event and the need to move the vehicles quickly into the parking lot, it is difficult to maintain supervisory control over the collection of parking fees. Further, because of the large amounts of cash which are collected in a short time period it may be desirable to remove it from the custody of the parking attendants from time-to-time during the in-flow of arriving traffic. Further, there is a need to verify that the amount of the fees which are collected corresponds with the number of vehicles which pass the parking attendant's station because the circumstances provide opportunity for parking attendants to steal some of the cash fees collected and to admit friends or relatives without collecting the proper fee.
There is a need for improvements in the parking arrangement in open-lot type parking lots which will facilitate the controlled entry of for orderliness of parking and fee collection and also permit mass vehicle exit. There is a need for apparatus to enforce accountability for the collection of parking fees.
In the prior art, the open-lot parking lot system for sports arenas and the like is commonly used with portable temporary traffic markers to form traffic lanes for controlled entry past attendant stations. However, such parking lots do not include apparatus to provide for accountability of parking fee collection by the attendants. The use of traffic counters is, of course, known for use on roads and highways to register the number of vehicles passing the counter. A traffic counter of this type is disclosed in the Hall U.S. Pat. No. 2,547,937 granted Apr. 10, 1951 and in the Trigg et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,707,264 granted Dec. 26, 1972.
It is also known in the prior art to provide a portable information marker for traffic control in the form of a cone or pylon as disclosed in the Grammis et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,772,869 granted Sep. 20, 19880. This patent discloses a pylon with an interchangeable unit for displaying different signals or information, such as flashing light units and signs.
Also, in the prior art, it is a common practice to provide vehicle parking structures with an entrance lane having an automatic gate with a counter for registering the number of vehicles entering the structure. Parking structures of this type provide exit lanes for collection of parking fees. The entrance and exit lanes of such structures are established by permanent traffic barriers.
It is also known in the prior art to provide pedestrian traffic control at stadiums and the like by use of turnstiles with counters and an attendant for collecting tickets. These arrangements utilize permanent structures for the entering pedestrian traffic and do not allow mass exit through the same area as used for entry.
A general object of this invention is to provide apparatus and method for open-lot parking lots which provides for controlled entry with parking fee collection and mass exit of the parking lot.